Beyond Looking
by Findabhiar Aery
Summary: In Ginny's sixth year, she still pines for Harry Potter, but something is brewing with Draco Malfoy. Nothing to do with 'Complicate You' or 'Catch You'.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Falling in love was easy and Ginny Weasley knew that for a fact. It was falling back out that was the tricky part.

Ginny had loved for as long as she had known Harry Potter, and she could no longer remember what it had been like before he walked into her life in such a heart-stopping fashion.

Watching him sleeping on the train back to Hogwarts, she was struck yet again by the rugged appeal of his features. While none could exactly call him handsome, there was just something about him that drew admiration.

For Ginny, it was the deep green of his eyes, the way his messy hair fell into them, the golden tone of his skin, his large, square, capable hands made her shiver.

She had tried to date others in the previous year, such as Michael Corner, and Dean Thomas, but honestly, they were very poor substitutes for the object of her affection.

Harry murmured in his sleep, throwing his arm over his forehead, and Ginny stared at him wistfully. The urge to run her fingers through his thick hair causing her to clench her fingers tightly into a fist.

Hermione Granger watched her younger friend over the top of her book, a pitying look gracing her features. Ginny had been pining over Harry for so long, and in such an obvious way, that it was a mild running joke at Hogwarts.

Knowing that nothing would probably ever come of her crush, Ginny leaned her head back against the wall, and sighed deeply. Her brother was asleep at her side, and he snorted, and leaned his head against her shoulder. She glanced at him, and realized that was the most action she had gotten from any male in over six months.

Shoving him off, Ginny jumped out of her seat, with a "I have to go to the bathroom" to her brother who yelped as he fell off the seat, and Hermione who lowered her book to see what the commotion was. Harry, turned in his sleep, which was a little anti-climactic.

Ginny dragged her brush through her hair in the bathroom, trying to spend as much time grooming to avoid going back to the cabin simply to be ignored by her love. Never mind that he was asleep, he still seemed to be able to spurn her.

She looked at herself in the mirror, and sighed. Nothing to write home about, really. Her hair was long, almost to her waist, but it was straight as a pin, and an indeterminate colour between orange and blood red, with a few blonde highlights thrown in from her time around the lake during the summer.

Speaking of her summer spent in the bright sunlight, even her Mum's sun-protection spells hadn't saved her skin from the fate of having her freckles multiply to a strange nut-brown covering.

She also seemed to take after her Dad's side of the family, as opposed to her Mum's curves, and she was approaching five foot ten with astonishing speed, and her chest seemed to have stopped growing outward at the grand old age of twelve. It was a little depressing.

Thinking about her boobs, Ginny cupped them through her school uniform blouse and vest, trying to gauge whether they'd decided to grow at all. Nothing. Maybe next year. Maybe never. Gods, now she was really depressed.

Piling her hair on top of her head, she turned sideways to see if that made a difference. Well, now she looked even taller. Wonderful. Pouting her lips at her reflection, she let her hair go, watching it fall back into the exact same place where it had started.

Sighing, she shoved her black headband back into place to keep the silk heaviness off her face, and turned around to see if her skirt was riding up in the back. At least her butt was nice, well, at least according to the muggle construction workers that she had passed on a visit to London in July.

Exiting the bathroom reluctantly, Ginny walked down the cramped hallway, pausing every few meters in order to prolong the experience.

Noticing a spot on her otherwise shining mary-janes, polished to within an inch of their already second-hand lives, Ginny bent over at her waist to rub at the water mark with the handkerchief that her mother insisted she keep on her person at all times, despite the unhygienic nature of the practice that turned her stomache.

"Very nice, Weasley." A low drawl sounded from behind her. She yelped, and spun around to see Draco Malfoy leaning against the wall, his arms folded across his chest as he watched her with a smirk across her face.

"Malfoy," She growled in response, her hands fisting at her sides, "Hasn't anyone put back the rock from which you crawled out from under as yet?"

"Nice try." If anything, his smirk grew wider, though his stance didn't suggest anything more than amused boredom.

"Well, this little exchange was…" She trailed off, trying to think of an adjective that aptly described it, finally settling upon, "horrifying. But I really must dash."

"Why? Have some more desperate pining for a male who by all accounts is so bent that he couldn't see a woman if she stripped naked, flung herself at him, and wanted to ride his broomstick."

Ginny gaped at the pale, blonde male, never before having heard him say that much in her presence at one time. "What the… Wait a minute, Harry's not gay!"

"You sure about that, love?" He pushed himself away from the wall, and sauntered past her, causing her to step back so that they wouldn't touch.

"Git." Ginny muttered to herself, upset that she hadn't thought of a good comeback in time to get the last word.

Forgetting about the albino Slytherin, Ginny continued on through the corridor, rushing quickly past the closed door where the golden trio still lounged, to the compartment that housed Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood.

Neville looked up at her with a smile, his gentle face welcoming her, and putting her at ease, whereas Luna waggled her upside-down copy of The Quibbler in her direction.

Ginny sat down beside the older Gryffindor, and gave him a quick hug with one arm as she started rooting around in her shoulder bag for the chocolate frogs she had smuggled past her mother's watchful eye as she left the house earlier that day.

"How was your summer?" Neville asked quietly, snagging the leg of the frog that she offered to him.

"It was ok. I spent a lot of time at the lake near our house, which is fun." Ginny shrugged, feeling there was nothing that special about the almost three months she had been out of Hogwarts.

"Was probably better than mine," Neville stated morosely, "Gran decided that we haven't spent enough time with my uncle Irwin who is almost eighty, so we went to stay with him for more of the summer. It would have been okay, except for a few key points. He's incontinent, and somehow confused me with a women he knew in his prime, and pinched my arse."

"Ouch." Ginny patted his hand in sympathy, trying not to laugh, but losing the battle. She quickly turned away from him, knowing that if she didn't, she would hurt his feelings.

"That's rather amusing." Luna smiled dreamily, and went back to her paper, not noticing Neville's downcast expression.

The carriage ride up to the castle was spent in uncomfortable silence after Ron came to find her, with Hermione reading… something, Ginny really hadn't gathered enough interest to ask what, and Harry contemplating the Forbidden forest out the window to his left. Ron had fallen asleep again.

Ginny whistled lightly under her breath, playing with the hem of her vest, which had a thread hanging from it. She had come to the realization over the summer that she really didn't have that many of her own friends… meaning, that she had the trio, and their friends. It was high time to change that.

The problem was, was that most of the girls her year in Gryffindor… well, they irritated her. She really liked to think that she had more important things to do than giggle vacuously at… well, the most random things. Yes, she knew how irritating she was to many of her classmates about her obsession with Harry, but still… well, obviously she lived for the double standard, and was surprisingly okay with it.

"Ginny?" Hermione raised a dark eyebrow as she looked up from her book. Ginny bristled at her supercilious tone, but strove for politeness, "Yes Hermione?"

"Could you stop please?" She enunciated each word carefully, as if speaking to a five year old.

"Oh, so sorry." Ginny stopped her whistling and stared out of the opposite window to Harry.

Hermione occasionally got under her skin, and it took a great deal of patience to be around her at times. She was just so smart and such a perfectionist, that when people did not measure up to her own personal standards, she tended to regard them as lesser and acted appropriately.

Ginny knew all of this, and yet, still, her fingers sometimes itched to get into a fist and find their way to her chin.

The welcoming feast seemed to drag on forever. Ginny stared at her fork, wondering if she jabbed it into the back of her hand it would get the right amount of attention to get out of there, or cause her to bleed to death. As she was undecided on this matter, she chose to do nothing.

"And it is with great pleasure that I welcome you all back to another fine year here at Hogwarts School." Dumbledore finished his speech, and sat down with a wave of his hand to indicate that the students should start eating. He was quickly immersed in a discussion with Professor McGonagall to his right.

Ginny turned away from the head table to look at the other houses, noticing Luna sitting by herself, looking quite content to be stringing butterbeer corks onto a new necklace for herself. 

Her gaze shifted to the Slytherin table, spotting Draco Malfoy's platinum hair shining in the candlelight of the Great Hall. Narrowing her eyes, Ginny watched as he laughed at something Crabbe had said. What a ponce.

Dismissing him without a second glance, Ginny turned to see Harry Potter sitting beside Hermione, across from Ron, talking to Dean Thomas. She smiled dreamily, seeing his bright green eyes sparkle behind the, admittedly, nerdy black glasses. When he finally came to his senses and asked her out, she was definitely going to talk him into a new pair of frames.

Her hair was going to drive her crazy, was the next thought that flitted through her mind. It was tickling her arms and neck, and she deftly twisted it up, back, and stuck the handle of her spoon in it to hold the heavy tendrils in place.

Seamus Finnegan glanced over, and his lips curved into a smile at that, "Hey Ginny, getting creative with the cutlery again?"

Grinning at his playful Irish charm, Ginny leaned over to him, "Just so we can have these moments sweetheart."

"Gods, I do love those redheads!" Seamus shouted with laughter. Ron glanced over at him with a visible shudder, "Oh, not you Ronnie baby. I meant your luscious little sis."

Ginny laughed, which had been Seamus' goal all along, and Hermione reached over to shove Ron back into his seat. "Sit down, Ronald, you look like a fool."

Ron muttered to himself and took a big bite of the pudding that appeared in the middle of the Gryffindor table, slightly mollified by the trifle.

Yawning widely, Ginny smiled at Seamus who was still hovering over her like the man-whore he was, "That's it, I'm off to bed."

"Well, this is all very sudden Ms. Weasley, but only if you promise me breakfast in the morning." Seamus stood up too, slinging an arm around her shoulders, which was quite the feat, considering she was about an inch taller than him.

"Geroff you great Irish lag." Ginny shouldered him off and waved goodnight to the trio, squinting her eyes to see if Harry had possible seen Seamus' antics and gotten wildly jealous. No such luck.

Shoulders slumping slightly, she walked out of the Great Hall, trying to remember if she had been told the new password to the tower room.

In fact, she was pondering this so hard, that she wasn't watching where she was going, and smashed into something solid, and went skidding on her arse across the stone floor.

"Bugger!" She cried out, looking up to glare at her attacker who had not had the decency of getting out of her way… or falling down too.

Ginny looked straight into the steel grey helmet of a suit of armour strategically positioned along the hallway. It wasn't even on the corner or anything… if she hadn't missed that, she would have walked into the wall, which was a little embarrassing.

"Good Gods, Weasley, that's the second time today I've seen your knickers." A smooth drawl sounded from beside her, and she turned her head to see Draco Malfoy looking down at her with mocking amusement showing on his otherwise expressionless face.

Ginny glared as she picked herself off the floor, thankful that the contents of her bag hadn't gone flying in all directions, her hair falling down her back, and around her shoulders in wild disarray. "Malfoy, stop being a pervert."

"Hey, did I pull up your skirt to look? I believe you were the one who flashed me." If anything, his smirk widened, a lock of pale hair falling into his flashing eyes.

"You're a git." Summing up her feelings, she turned to head to the tower, trying to ignore his mocking laughter which seemed to follow her, speeding up as he called mockingly, "You forgot your spoon!"

When she got to the portrait of the fat lady, Ginny realized that she had indeed, not gotten told the password, and had to wait, and then suffer through the indignity of a group of second years letting her in.

Classes for about the first month flew by in a stream of monotonous lectures, gossiping classmates, and wishing that she was elsewhere. She just couldn't seem to get into her studies this year, she just wasn't interested.

It didn't help either, that the trio were cutting themselves off more and more from not only her, but everyone else in Gryffindor. It seemed like they were absorbing into each other, and Ginny could do nothing else but watch helplessly, and accept an invitation from Colin to go to Hogsmeade, and then to the Halloween dance.

The only thing that seemed to unsettle the ordinary was Ginny's run-ins with Draco Malfoy. His spitefulness seemed to be a constant, and that in and of itself was oddly reassuring.

The day after the dance, she had been sitting with her feet in the lake, wondering what had possessed her to wear the high heels the night before. Staring at a particularly angry red blister through the shimmering water, Ginny leaned forward with her elbows on her knees, when her silence had been interrupted.

"Weasley. What an… unpleasant surprise." Draco's voice sounded from behind her. Ginny sighed and hung her head, "If I tell you to take a flying leap, will it actually accomplish anything?"

"You've got balls, I'll give you that." He sank down on his haunches beside her, staring off into the distance.

"I don't want anything to do with your balls, thank you very much." She turned her head away, thinking glumly of the fact that Harry had ignored her again for the majority of the night before.

"You're thinking about the git again, aren't you?" Startled, Ginny turned to look at him, catching his silvery eyes in the sunlight, noticing just how pale he truly was.

"What git?" She shook her head, "Actually, I don't care. Go away."

"Potter." He spat out, with more than a touch of venom lacing his voice.

"Oh my Gods, go away!" She yelled, pointing toward the school.

"No." He answered succinctly, sitting down beside her, seemingly uncaring of the fact that the dirt might get on his black trousers.

"Great Galloping Merlin, you're irritating."

"Great Galloping Merlin? Weasley, you do have a way with words. And as to the irritating comment, I've been told."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Ginny was quite literally, over the moon. Another Hogsmeade weekend was rolling around, and Harry had asked her if she was going. Honestly, it was one of the best things that had happened to her since the beginning of school. A sad thought, but one that was there nonetheless.

She did not like school, did not like the regimented format of being told what to do, and when. It was far too much like her homelife for her liking. Because of this, however, she really didn't get the grades that her Mum wanted to see. School was stressful for Ginny, and she well knew it, so anything to alleviate this was more than welcome. And an invitation from Harry…. Well… it was the stuff of dreams.

Walking through the halls on the way to the Great Hall for supper, Ginny was almost skipping, her robes flying around her. That is, until Draco Malfoy stepped out from a classroom and sent her a disdainful glare, "Weasley."

In a playful mood, too good to be brought down by the likes of him, she pursed her lips in an exaggerated imitation of his smirk, lowered her voice, and replied, "Malfoy."

His only response was to arch a golden eyebrow at her, before she walked past and went to sit with her house.

The table was alive with talk of the upcoming Quidditch season, which Ginny was looking forward to. She was going to try out for the open position of chaser for the first time, having snuck practice on her brother's brooms all summer. She was ready, and the possibility of being in a tight huddle with Harry was definitely a motivating factor.

Swallowing a bite of Yorkshire pudding, Ginny talked to Dean about new plays that the Cannons had employed over their, admittedly, poor season previously. They agreed that the Cannons relied far too heavily on a defensive position in order to give their Seeker, an excellent player by all means, more time to find the snitch.

The problem was, was that they rarely had enough points by the time the snitch was found by him to win the game, and their opponents were fully aware of this tactic, and exploited it shamelessly.

Dean was actually all for this ploy, disagreeing with Ginny's argument that the emphasis should not be placed so heavily on one player to win a game, and she was determined to prove him wrong.

So intent were they on arguing this, that by the time Ginny looked up, the table was close to empty, the trio having left almost an hour before. Cursing the missed opportunity to try to talk to her love, Ginny saluted Dean for a debate well argued, and stood, stretching her arms over her head to work out the kinks that had settled in her lower back.

She glanced around casually, and caught the silvery eyes of Malfoy. He audaciously winked in her direction, before turning back to a conversation with the tall, dark Blaise Zabini. Ginny stared at him in disbelief for a moment longer, completely shocked by his behaviour.

Dean leaned in close then, and she laughed at his comments on the Puddlemere and Canon game, before they walked out to head back to the tower.

From across the large dining hall, Blaise took in the barely discernible clenching of Draco's jaw as he watched the Weasley girl and her housemate, and remarked casually, "You got it bad mate."

--

So, the Hogsmeade day with Harry was not quite what Ginny had anticipated. Currently, they were walking down to the small town together, the wind blowing, the trees showing a riot of colours… and Ron and Hermione talking avidly to her supposed date.

No matter, Ginny decided to act like a Gryffindor, "So, Harry, what do you want to do today?"

"Well, Ron and I are going to go to the Quidditch supply shop, and I think Hermione wants a new book." Harry threw a teasing grin over his shoulder at the bushy haired girl who shrugged, having accepted her bookworm state.

Ginny chewed on her full lower lip plaintively, trying to figure out how to get this to a date of two. No ideas were forthcoming.

She sighed, and resigned herself to eating as much chocolate as possible in Honeydukes, and then drowning her sorrows in butterbeer. With any luck, she'd be so sick from the sugar overload, she wouldn't think of her aborted date.

Without them realizing, she fell slightly behind the trio, watching their backs get smaller, and farther away as they continued to converse animatedly.

"Well, that was just sad." A low voice remarked from her left, and she turned to see Blaise Zabini falling into step with her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I don't speak loser." She replied cattily, looking ahead with a stony expression across her face.

"Ouch." Draco Malfoy remarked from her other side.

"Merlin, why me?" Ginny looked up in the sky, searching for answers. Her crush, the love of her life, was walking away without realizing he was on a date with her, and two Slytherin gits were giving her more attention than she needed, wanted, could stand…

"Love, even Merlin couldn't figure out your love life, that's for sure." Blaise remarked, unfazed by her earlier dismissal.

"He'd probably just call you a sad, desperate, bint and be done with it." Draco added, smirking mightily at the side of her face.

Ginny stopped smack in the middle of the path, and folded her arms over her chest. The two Slytherins stopped about a pace ahead of her, watching her with almost identical smirks across their faces.

"Go away." She enunciated carefully, as if speaking to a recalcitrant, very young, child.

Draco stared at her intently, as Blaise looked at his nails with exaggerated care.

"No." Draco drawled back just as slowly, his thin lips curving into a smirk.

Shoulders slumping slightly in defeat, she asked wearily, "Why do you keep following me?"

"Your pathetic life amuses me to no end?" He guessed, his smirk widening as she flushed bright red at the insult.

"That is not your best look." Blaise added helpfully.

Ginny turned her glare on him, before stepping around them and hurrying on to Hogsmeade, not looking back to see if the two horrible boys were still following.

"Well," Blaise watched her go, "That went well."

"You say that as if I should care." Draco drawled, thrusting his hands into the pockets of his beautifully cut robes.

"Stubborn."

Ginny ended up spending the majority of the day by herself, wandering around trying to see if the Golden Trio were up to anything interesting. Despite getting into a long and involved, though entirely one-sided, discussion with Hermione about the advantages of the new, recycled parchment that was now the basis of wizarding books, she really didn't spend any time with any of them.

Not having much money made shopping mildly boring, and Ginny decided, with a slump of her shoulders, to head back up to school, thinking that maybe she had some chocolate left in the bottom of her trunk from her birthday.

The sun shone across the lake, turning it into a fiery pool, and she stood for a moment, just breathing in the crisp autumn air. She did love it here… despite the fact that she didn't really like her schoolwork or classes. Hogwarts was her home, more so than the Burrow now. Even with what had happened in first year…

Turning to leave, she winced as she stepped on a pebble, feeling it through the thin leather of her worn shoes, and she bent down to pick it up. Eyeing the smooth stone, she turned back to the lake, and skipped it across the water, just like Charlie had shown her when she was five years old.

Ginny grinned as the giant squid smacked the surface in irritating after the stone landed, and she turned around once more to head back up to the castle.

She settled into her cozy bed, the drapes that were never closed due to her fear of enclosed spaces, with a good book, and the last chocolate frog in her possession. Sighing in contentment, she read until her dorm mates returned from their excursion, chattering loudly over new clothing, and the new strawberry-flavoured brand of butterbeer.

Ginny had nothing to add, and simply curled into herself, feeling so incredibly awkward. Never having had a close girlfriend, she envied them their easy camaraderie. They had long since given up on trying to involve her in their plans, and conversations, and most of the time, treated her as if she were invisible. She had no way of knowing how to change this established pattern, and it seemed easier to simply let it go.

Falling asleep in that position, curled up around her pillow, Ginny woke up halfway through the night, realizing that she was not only aching and uncomfortable from sleeping in her clothing, but also that she was drooling slightly.

"Oh lovely." She muttered, wiping the back of her hand across her lips before stretching her stiff muscles.

Ginny changed into her oversized pajamas, recognizing them distantly as having belonged to Fred or George at some point by the Puddlemere logo across the chest, and stood scratching her stomache absentmindedly as she tried to decide if she was tired enough to go back to bed. Unfortunately, no. Generally when she woke up, she was unable to go back to sleep, which made room mates really fun if they came in after she had fallen to sleep.

Throwing Anne, the 6th year Gryffindor who had the bed closest to the door and evil look, damning her ability to sleep, Ginny let herself out softly, treading down the stairs in her fluffy slippers.

The common room, however, was far from deserted. A couple was lying together on one of the couches near the banked-down fire, and Ginny smirked as she moved to one side to see who it was.

Their clothing was askew, moved aside to allow certain body parts to come into contact, and Ginny recognized Lavender Brown moving sinuously against an unknown male beneath her.

They were both moaning in a way that made Ginny jealous, and she could hear the wetness of flesh slapping against flesh. The air was heavy, cloying, and unfamiliar to Ginny, and she breathed in with curiosity.

The whole scene was so incredibly erotic to her innocent gaze. A strong male hand wrapped itself in Lavender's dark blonde locks, holding her still, another hand gripping her hip and moving her in an almost primitive movement. Each time she moved down, they both moaned, gasping for breath, no words spoken, and yet they were so together.

Ginny moved back into the shadows as Lavender sat up, her back arched, a thin t-shirt covering her upper body though her nipples stood out in stark relief against the white cotton.

She moaned louder as those male hands slid under, cupping her unfettered breasts, kneading the flesh there. Ginny could feel a rush of moisture between her legs, making her feel uncomfortably wet and sticky as she watched intently. Her gaze moved down the muscular arms to find herself looking at Harry Potter's passion-filled face.

Ginny froze. She seemed completely unable to look away from her crush, her dreams slipping through her fingers even as she watched Lavender throw back her head and cry out softly.

Shoulders slumping, moisture gathering in the corners of her caramel eyes, she slowly made her way back up to her dorm, not even caring if the two lovers had spotted her or not.

--

Almost a week later, Ginny was still in something of a daze, but anger was coursing through her as well, a burning anger.

She sat in the library, trying desperately to study for her potions test, the image of Lavender and Harry running through her head like the most bitter of Muggle films.

Rationally, she mildly realized that she and Harry had never really been together in any sense of the word, that he had gone out of his way to never be alone with her, to never give her anything other than the vaguest of friendships, but it still hurt.

How dare he? She glared at the back of his head from her position just inside the door to the Great Hall. Colin Creevey entered behind her, and giving her an odd look, he paused.

"Ginny?" His voice was tentative.

Ginny didn't take her eyes off of her new hate, and answered him out of the corner of his mouth, "Piss off, Creevey."

His eyes widened, and he hurried away from the crazed redhead. The Weasley temper was somewhat infamous.

Harry was eating ham. Ham. Ginny hated ham. She hoped he choked on it. Narrowing her eyes, she walked over to the Gryffindor table, and took a seat as far away from the Golden Trio as possible.

Not noticing the food appearing before her, or the startled first years surrounding her, Ginny took a bite of her chicken as she again glared at Harry's profile.

Chewing mechanically, barely tasting the white meat that the house elves had surely spent hours slaving over, she watched as Harry's dark head angled in over the table with Ron's and Hermione's. They were probably discussing something very important that they had no intention of ever involving her in. It was a little disheartening.

Why did she care? She forced herself to think about that all-important question. What concern of it was her's what they did? Just because she didn't really have any other friends… and her mild acquaintances and flirtations with Dean and Seamus didn't really count.

And the whole Lavender thing didn't really bother her as much as the lack of belonging did. Although, she did think that the older girl was a slut for casually having sex with a boy in the Gryffindor common room, where anyone and their mother could have seen them.

Ginny forced herself to look away from the Trio, and she looked around the Great Hall, noticing Luna Lovegood staring off to space as her housemates tossed peas in her general direction. She shook her head, and looked over at the Slytherin table, catching the eye of Draco Malfoy, who winked at her outrageously before turning to speak with Pansy Parkinson.

Shaking her head, Ginny realized that she was starting to get used to seeing the Slytherin. Before the beginning of this year, she was quite sure that Malfoy had never noticed her beyond the time that she had hexed the hell out of him in Umbridge's office in her fourth year.

Since their exchange on the train though, she had seen him on a somewhat regular basis. He seemed to go out of his way to tease her, but she had to admit that he seemed to not be as evil as Harry and Ron had always maintained.

Back to the matter at hand. She needed friends. Badly. Preferably a female friend that she could confide in. And she really needed to get laid. Virginity, despite what her mum thought, was merely an obstacle to overcome. Her eyes glinted with her new ambitions, and she looked around to see the little first years staring at her with morbid fascination.

She watched them from beneath lowered eyelids as she tried to remember if she had ever been that small. Impossible, or so it seemed, at her current height. With her luck, she'd end up taller than Ron. She was almost as tall as Charlie, who was her shortest brother now.

Hearing gasps of shock around her, she looked up in time to see Draco Malfoy slide into the seat on her right, displacing the first year who had been sitting there with remarkable speed.

"Malfoy." She acknowledged, determined this time not to come off as a shrieking shrew. He smirked at her, as if knowing how much self-control she was really exerting at that moment.

Trying to keep from looking around and showing him just how uncomfortable he made her, she was happy for once that the trio was still in a world of their own.

"Now, what did the chicken ever do to you?" He remarked, in his carelessly graceful way, gesturing a pale hand in the direction of her food.

"Nothing." She answered truthfully, staring at her fork as she speared it into the well-cooked flesh, assuming that if she tried to ignore him, he would go away. Kind of like a puppy. A really stupid puppy.

Leaning over, he grabbed a roll from the side of her plate, and bit into it, chewing thoughtfully as he watched her. It was quite disappointing the lack of reaction he had induced by sitting with her. He had been expecting more fireworks.

"Would you mind not eating my supper?" Ah, there it was, a faint hint of irritation in her tone. His smirk widened as her popped the rest of the soft bread into his mouth. She glared at him as he made a show of enjoying it, before sitting back to gaze back at her.

Locked into something akin to a staring contest, Ginny was not entirely sure how to proceed. His silver gaze was just so intense, it was hard to look away. It was uncomfortable and compelling all at once.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

It was almost Christmas. Christmas that was to be spent at Hogwarts this year, thank you Mum. Ginny shook herself, she was being very rough on her mother at the moment, but she didn't like the fact that it had been decided for her to stay at school for the one holiday that she got to go home.

She was startled out of her thoughts by a pale blonde head landing in her lap, bright silver eyes staring up at her knowingly, "Weasley."

"Malfoy." She had very much resigned herself to his peculiar brand of 'friendship', realizing how incredibly stubborn he was when his mind had been set. Actually, she was starting to feel a little honoured, as he seemed to have very few friends by choice, though his somewhat less than charming personality must have had some impact as well. "You know, there are other seats. You don't have to put your head there."

Draco smirked, "It just turns me on when you turn that particular shade of red though."

Sighing, Ginny pushed at him, attempting to dislodge him, not really noticing the incredible softness of his pale hair, or how his eyes flashed at her touch. She was not successful and instead crossed her arms across her chest, and looked out the window to her left.

"Did I see your name on the list staying in the castle?" He asked conversationally, reaching up a hand to play with the silken ends of her bright hair. She quickly smacked his hand away, "Unfortunately. I wanted to go home this year."

"Well, I'll be here, so it won't be all bad." She looked down at him with a quirked eyebrow, taking in his self-satisfied look. Rolling her eyes, she looked back out the window.

"I love Christmas. Being here is not the same at all."

"Stop being such a martyr, Weasley." He reached up again to twine her hair through his fingers, staring at it in fascination, "You don't exactly have it bad here."

She shrugged noncommittally, watching the snow start to fall from the overcast grey sky, to add to that which already lined the grounds.

"Why do you keep seeking me out?" The question took her by surprise as much as it did him. Ginny clapped a hand over her mouth as she again blushed brightly. She glared down at him upon hearing his husky laugh.

"Why do you think I seek you out? Weasley, this is the library… it's not exactly out of my normal routine."

"Noted." She pushed at him again, and again he thwarted her attempts. Sighing in irritation, Ginny reached over for her novel which he had originally pushed out of his way, intent on ignoring him.

"I actually did seek you out today, though." He added conversationally, rubbing a thumb along a streak of gold that stood out against the redness of her hair. "I needed a laugh, and you are damned amusing."

Ginny rolled her eyes and made a point of reading her book, which centred on Muggle philosophy for her Muggle Studies class.

"Paradise Lost?" Draco read from upside down, "Sounds like Muggle tripe."

"It's not bad." She shrugged noncommittally, and focused on ignoring the Slytherin. For his part, Draco breathed in her scent, and closed his eyes.

While not quite companionable silence, it was comfortable for both, and Ginny barely noticed Draco's hand reached up and playing with the ends of her long hair that rested on his neck.

She did notice, however, when he gave a sharp yank, causing her to cry out more in surprise than shock, "Can I help you?"

"Yes, let's get out of here." He smirked up at her, managing to look superior even while she was looking down on him.

"I am trying to study." She arched a brow at him, "You remember that little activity, right?"

He shrugged, and elegantly stood up, holding out a hand to her silently. Ginny grinned up at him slyly, "Are you sure you want to be seen with Weasley 'filth', Malfoy?"

"You said it, not me." He spread his hands out to the sides in what could have been called surrender, if his last name wasn't Malfoy, and her's wasn't Weasley.

"I'm good here." Ginny folded her legs under her, unmindful of how her skirt rode up to Draco's hooded, yet fascinated eyes.

"Your loss, Weasley." He smirked at her, his eyes still surreptitiously darting to her stocking-encased legs, exposed by her skirt, before turning away.

Hearing a bit of a commotion, Ginny looked up to see Harry entering the library, a scowl on his face as Draco walked away, obviously having had some sort of confrontation at the door.

Her features softened as she took in his beloved face, and then hardened in anger as she remembered the scene with Lavender in the common room.

"Hey Gin." He sat down with a self-conscious smile at the table beside her, and pulled out his books to begin his Charms assignment, "Can you believe that git Malfoy?"

"He's not that bad." Ginny's caramel eyes narrowed at him. The unbelievable gal of the man, sitting down beside her as if nothing had happened. As if he had nothing to be ashamed of.

"Oh Ginny." Harry smiled indulgently, and pulled out his quill, "You're too nice."

"Try me." For some reason, he just wasn't getting her tone.

"Well, first he's a git to Ron and I for six years now. Plus, everyone knows he's just a little Death Eater in training like Daddy, and he duels with anyone who crosses his path." Harry sat back, a little smugly, having proven his point, and pulled a book toward him. And then, something changed forever between him and Ginny Weasley.

"Oh, he's been a git? And you've both been roses and sunshine to him, right? The way I heard it, Ron laughed at him on your first day, and then you rejected an offer of friendship. And of course you know for a fact, because you're best buddies, what his intentions are, or even what his father's up to, you giant gossip." Ginny got up, and smacked her hands down on the desk, not noticing Harry's inkpot going flying onto the floor.

He stared at her, completely gob smacked, "And he duels with everyone? I've only ever seen him duel with you and Ron, and then you both completely deserved it for throwing unprovoked hexes, and ganging up on him two to one."

Harry stared hard at her, like he had never seen her before, as Ginny huffed, stamped her foot, and then walked out of the library with her head held high. That had felt good, never mind that Draco was definitely not as innocent as she had painted him. It had felt good to talk back to Harry for once.

Ginny made it all the way to the Gryffindor common room, before what she'd done really sank in. She had stood up for Draco Malfoy, of all people, and against Harry Potter, whom she had loved for years.

"Oh Merlin." She whispered, and sank down into the large couch opposite the fire, "What have I done? Gods, I'm stupid."

A rich laugh broke the silence that settled after she uttered that statement, and Ginny turned to see Seamus playing a game of exploding snap with Dean Thomas. They both grinned at her, before Dean remarked, "See what I told you, mate? High-strung, that one."

"I am _not_ high-strung." Ginny rebutted, standing to glare down at him. He grinned back up at her, before accepting another card.

"Ah, love, it's ok. I like them high-strung." Seamus winked outrageously at her, "You have to wonder where else that passion can be directed." They both laughed at that as she hit Seamus across the back of the head before sitting and being dealt into the game.

"Did you see Lavender's skirt the other day?" Dean suddenly asked with a wide grin, "Could almost see her knickers. And then she got mad at me for looking! Women."

"Mixed company." Ginny asserted dryly as she organized her cards.

"Oh, you don't count, you're like one of the boys." Dean waved off that comment from his ex-girlfriend as she turned to him slowly with one eyebrow arched.

"Gin, I do not think of you as one of the boys." Seamus broke in with a lascivious look across his face. Ginny shook her head, and turned her back to the playing cards, "I think that actually frightens me more than being thought 'one of the boys'."

"As well it should." Dean asserted smugly before reminding Seamus about Lavender's skirt length.

"Mate, I completely remember that skirt." Seamus lay down a card, watching warily to see if it would explode before continuing, "It's my favourite. She wears it about once every couple of weeks. She has great knickers too."

"I saw black lace before she caught me looking." Dean sighed, and jumped as the cards on the table exploded. Ginny cackled her triumph over the two boys and scooped up the cards to deal a new game.

"She has these purple shiny pants that make me stiff everytime." Seamus shared as he watched Ginny shuffle the cards between her slender, capable hands. Dean simply laughed. Ginny grimaced at his choice of words, and wondered about the advisability of touching the same cards that he had. She decided to take that chance.

"Dean lad, you never did tell me how it was with you and Miss. Weasley here. She seems like a naughty one." Seamus winked at Dean, before turning to watch Ginny's reaction.

She slowly lifted her head up, and turned to glare at him, "Dean, don't you dare. Seamus, it's none of your damned business."

"Naughty." He smirked at her, ducking her fist in a move that spoke of experience at dodging examples of anger. Dean laughed.

"Seamus, you are such a man-whore." She shook her head, deciding that the unrepentant Irishman was not worth it.

He shrugged broad shoulders before responding, "I'm okay with it."

Muttering under her breath, Ginny turned her attention back to her cards, the scene with Harry never really leaving her mind. She really had never spoken to him like that, even when she had wanted to in the past. Of course she knew he wasn't perfect, and usually if he said something she didn't agree with, she could wave it off, but today… well, today, she had just snapped.

It was a little disconcerting how easy that had been, now that she thought about it. How easy it had been to yell at her Harry, and put him in his place. Ginny shook her head, and laid down a card, checking to see if it would explode before returning to her thoughts.

"She's left the building." Seamus remarked, watching Ginny's blank face.

"Ah, she does that occasionally." Dean shrugged with the look of one well used to such behaviour, "She says she has a lot of thinking to do. I just think she likes daydreaming."

"Something like that." Seamus watched her for a long moment longer, taking in her lovely face framed by hair the colour of sunset, before turning back to the game.

That night, Ginny lay in bed, still deep in her thoughts. She had made some effort to talk to the girls in her dorm earlier, and they had looked at her so blankly that she had wondered what on earth was wrong with her.

There was nothing else to it, she was doomed to go through her school career with no friends. None. They were just so different, they didn't talk about the same things, think about the same things, and she was sure that they all laughed about her love for Harry behind her back.

Flopping over onto her stomach, she buried her head in the fluffy pillow, breathing out heavily. It was no use. Sleep was definitely not forthcoming.

Ginny grabbed her book and wand off the bedside table, and with a quick, and whispered, "_lumos_", she was happily reading about Merlin's adventures at the side of Morgan Le Fey.

A/N: Shorter, I know…. I'm trying to set the stage for what will come. This is definitely an easier story for me to write that "Catch You", as there is not as many characters or plots, but I am writing chapter 8 of that as well!! I should be updating both by New Year, so please check back.

Also, I have started a new story, and I desperately need a beta. It is NC-17, and it will be quite long. It is Ginny/Draco, and it is post-War, post-Hogwarts (a little different from what I've done before, but it should be good. I'm excited about it.). Please message me if you would like to beta, as that would be WONDERFUL!!!

Thank you for reading!!!


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